


It's Time To Begin

by xhorizen



Series: HanFic Bingo 2018 [2]
Category: Hanson (Band)
Genre: F/M, Infidelity, Pregnancy, baby out of wedlock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-02
Updated: 2018-09-02
Packaged: 2019-07-05 17:16:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15868134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xhorizen/pseuds/xhorizen
Summary: Natalie has Zac's baby





	It's Time To Begin

**Author's Note:**

> I swear, I never thought I'd write Zac/Nat once, let alone twice. This takes place after the events of "Somewhere Only We Know". If you haven't read that, you probably should. 
> 
> Prompt: First Kiss

The call came around three o’clock in the morning, but Zac hadn’t been sleeping in the first place. Natalie had been having inconsistent contractions the majority of Christmas Day and he had had a feeling that their daughter would be born on December 26th. He woke Kate quickly, just to let her know he was headed to the hospital, though she simply turned over and mumbled something incoherent. He drove as fast as he dared, an ice storm had hit Tulsa on Christmas Eve and all of the roads leading out to the highway were still icy and dangerous. He cursed to himself the entire drive, he couldn’t get to the hospital fast enough for his liking, what if he missed the birth? He knew he wouldn’t be in the room, but he still wanted to be there, for Natalie to know he was there, just like he promised he would be. 

The labor and delivery parking lot was unusually full, but he found a spot at the back of the lot and sprinted into the hospital doors. He had been at that hospital so many times by that point that he knew exactly where to go. The nurse at the reception desk smiled at him, recognition flooding her face, and he forced a smile on his face, hopeful she wouldn’t be inappropriate.

“They’re already in a delivery room.” The nurse, Riley, told him before he could ask any questions. “Natalie’s doctor just got paged and he should be up in just a minute, the waiting room is just down the hall. I can have someone come get you when you’re allowed back?” Zac knew he should probably be upset that he didn’t even have to ask for the information he wanted, simply because it was sensitive information he was receiving, but he simply nodded and made his way to the waiting room. 

There were three other families in the room, causing Zac way more anxiety that he anticipated. Apparently having babies the morning after Christmas day was a trend, but he couldn’t really pull himself out of his thoughts for long enough to take too much notice of anyone else. He was too busy overanalyzing anything and everything that had to do with him, Natalie, and Taylor. Zac was convinced that Taylor knew about the two of them, he would sometimes make snide remarks under his breath that no one quite caught, and Natalie told him that Taylor had straight up accused her of cheating on him more than once in the past few months, though he only ever did it when he was drinking. They tried to stay apart, to do whatever they had to do to make sure no one caught onto them, and Zac hated it. He only got to see Natalie every couple of weeks toward the end of the pregnancy, a time when he knew their baby would be moving around in her stomach, Natalie would be growing every single day, and he hated that he was missing any of it. He cried with bitter frustration on more than one occasion, but he knew it was for the best. He had his own pregnant wife to attend to, he needed to trust that his brother would take care of Natalie the way she needed. 

Taylor had questioned him for a while about why he wanted to be at the hospital for the birth of the baby, and Zac had lied through his teeth, telling him he just wanted to be there for him since it had been so long since the last time he’d gone through it, blah blah blah. Taylor still seemed a bit skeptical, but luckily Natalie was able to convince him that having Zac there would be a good thing and he had relented. All Christmas Day, however, Zac felt Taylor’s eyes boring into him at every turn. Any time a contraction would hit, everyone ran to Natalie’s aid except for him. He didn’t want Taylor to have any reason to be suspicious, but by the end of the night, he and Natalie had barely talked once and he was convinced that was more suspicious than anything else. 

Hurried footsteps came down the hall and Zac looked up just in time to see Taylor walk through the waiting room doors. He hopped up and looked at him expectantly. “She’s so beautiful Zac, she’s perfect.” A huge smile broke out on Zac’s face as they left the waiting room and made their way to the delivery suite. The lights were dimmed when he walked in and it took a second for his eyes to adjust. When they did, they landed on Natalie, tucked up on the hospital bed, nursing their baby girl, and looking more beautiful than any woman he had ever seen. She looked up from the child in her arms and just beamed up at him.

“Hey you.” Her voice was low, she sounded exhausted, but also so happy. Zac sat down at a chair on one side of her bed and gazed at the baby cradled on her chest. 

“Thanks for being here, Zac.” He looked over the bed at Taylor and shrugged. 

“I’d do anything for you guys, you know that.” He turned his attention back to the baby and felt so many emotions running through him. She had a full head of hair, dark brown, just like all of Zac’s babies had been born with, and she was so tiny. 

“Do you want to hold her?” Natalie’s voice broke through and he jumped a little before meeting her gaze. There were so many unspoken words between them, he wanted so badly to tell her how much he loved her and how proud he was, but instead he just nodded. He accepted the little bundle, careful to cradle her head, and looked down at the life in front of him, the life he helped to create. She was asleep, her little nose twitching every so often. Her lower lip moved a few times and he couldn’t stop himself from placing his finger there, as if to confirm that this wasn’t a dream. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead, breathing in deep, trying to memorize her new baby smell.

“She looks just like you, ya know.” Natalie spoke again and his head shot up in a panic. The spot on the other side of the bed was empty, however, and he calmed a little. “He left a few minutes ago to get food, you were so lost in taking her in.” She yawned and he couldn’t help himself, he got up and sat on the edge of the bed before leaning in to kiss her.  
“She’s so beautiful, Nat, so perfect. How did we create something so amazing?” He pulled back, but only slightly, and looked back down at the baby in his arms. 

“Love can create some of the most wonderful things, sweetie.” She reached out and took one of his hands in hers and squeezed as tight as she could. He looked into her eyes and while he saw love and happiness radiating from them, he also saw fear. “I can’t keep lying to him, Zac. He looks at me all day, every day, accusing me of cheating without saying anything, and I can’t take it anymore. I feel so cheap, so dirty, exactly how I shouldn’t feel when what I’m doing makes me feel so loved and happy.” Zac sighed and removed his hand from hers so that he could wrap his arm around her shoulders. He pulled her to him and pressed his cheek to her hair, trying to think of what to say. He wanted more than anything to tell Taylor and Kate, to be with Natalie the way they deserved, but there were so many other things at stake. 

“Nat, I love you so much, you know that right?” He trailed off and pulled away a little, looking into her eyes. “But Kate still has three more months until she has the baby, it wouldn’t be fair to her to spring all of this on her until, ya know, and even then, we have to think about the business. We can’t support her on love alone, we need money too.” Natalie nodded her head, but tears still flooded her eyes. 

“I know I’m just being selfish, Zac, I’m so sorry. I just see you holding her, and I can’t help but want you to be there for her every single day. She deserves to know her real father.” Zac bit his lower lip and looked down at the little girl in his arms. 

“I will always be here for you two, Nat, I hope you know that. She will grow up knowing me, and no matter what my title is, she will be my daughter and the two of you will always be able to count on me.” He leaned in and pressed his lips to Natalie’s, pouring every ounce of love and devotion he could muster into the kiss, hoping that one day, things could be different.


End file.
